#so i'm super looking forward to seeing how it develops actually

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hey miss Raven! I hope your recovery is going well. Make sure to not over exert yourself. Wishing you good health and fortune!

I wanted to ask about your honest feelings regarding Grim and more then often obnoxious behaviour especially during events. This is coming from someone who loves cats and one of the things that got me into Twst was the fact that there was a talking cat in it (I still love the little shi* and look forward to his new outfits. I'm basically the meme " i still love them but sometimes i just want to get in a car and run them over".) For me it was annoying but a little cute like the first few times but now that we are done with 7 books of main story and a buckload of events his obnoxiousness is starting to feel really annoying. His character feels like it had no development at all. I know events are not canon nor take main story progress in to consideration but come on! Yuu's motivation to rescue Grim in book 6 didn't felt genuine either. Even now his antics in eternity float didn't come across adorable but exasperating instead. How do you feel about Grim?

Also, curiously if you ,as in you the author not your OC, were in yuu's shoes what would you do? How would you interact with grim? Do you think you can handle him realistically? I know you don't self insert yourself but just hypothetically speaking how would you feel about him?

Hihi ^^ Thank you for the well wishes! I think I've made a full recovery (or close to it?) at this point, but there's some lifestyle changes I made in the aftermath. Thankfully, it's nothing too bad!

Before I give my thoughts on Grim, I want to preface by disclosing my biases so you can understand where I'm coming from. While I definitely prefer cats to dogs, I've realized recently that I don't actually like cats?? I just tolerate them better than dogs. This is mostly on account of the fur, which I generally find very gross and messy. (One of my friends jokes this is because I'm just a Mammal Hater 💀) I do happen to be a pet owner and my (non-specific) pet very much has Grim's personality. They're loud, they're needy, they love to eat, they cause trouble, they act like they're the boss around here--so I'm sort of used to and desensitized to most of Grim's behaviors.

Now, about Grim! I generally like him (mostly because he basically acts like my own nonspecific pet and has cute ribbons). He's unfortunately always going to be my annoying little fur baby, but I totally understand why some people don't like Grim. His voice is admittedly kind of grating, and he always seems to be causing Yuu/the player grief. I disagree with those who dislike Grim for "stealing" screentime from Yuu; I think he's a suitable stand-in for them, since the game has to take measures to keep Yuu vague for self-insert purposes. Grim did nothing wrong, he is just serving his function. I also disagree with those who find it demeaning when Grim calls us "minion". To me, it doesn't feel any different than a friend ironically calling another friend "idiot" or something of the sort. Additionally, several other characters in the Twst cast have derogatory or arrogant nicknames for Yuu/the player or for their peers, but for some reason those have largely been adopted and interpreted as signs of affection by the fandom??? Which has always been super odd to me. I do see a point to be made about being annoyed at Grim for not taking responsibility for his actions (Yuu is often demanded to control him), but I’d say that’s intentional to move the plot along, clunky as it is. This doesn’t feel different to me than your pet, child, or sibling is being a nuisance and you having to get them under control in public. It’s also difficult for me to stay mad at Grim for this when other NRC students arguably act similar (causing trouble but not apologizing or taking accountability) + are ruder to Yuu but they get excused or adored for it while Grim catches flack. Why is there this bias? Is it because Grim isn’t a conventionally attractive anime boy?? 😭 Is it because we are forced to spend more time with Grim so he has more opportunities to be pointed out? I don’t get it.

That being said, that doesn't mean I think Grim is necessarily a well-written character, especially not for most of the main story. As much as I love book 6, the kidnapping + tearful reunion ring hollow if the player isn't already invested in Grim before then. The issue is that the prologue, plus books 1-5 do very little to show moments of Yuu and Grim genuinely bonding. Most interactions between the two involve Grim making trouble, his skipping responsibilities, or generally being cocky, and Yuu having to clean up after his messes. That doesn't endear him to us. We don't really get moments of Yuu and Grim seriously getting to know each other or points where we get to see his good traits. Book 6 would have worked a lot better if there had been moments dedicated to Yuu and Grim being more intimate beforehand. You don't have to make Grim a completely new character; work off of his existing traits and give him scenarios where he is allowed to shine and support Yuu.

Maybe in the prologue or book 1, Yuu is having trouble falling asleep because they're so anxious about being in a new world and Grim tries to act all tough to reassure them they're safe by his side, and this finally helps Yuu drift off. In book 2, maybe Leona's picking on Yuu a little too hard during their practice game and Grim feels he must stand up for his minion against a bully. For book 3, there could be a scene where Yuu scolds Grim for trying to take the easy way out and Grim confides in them about not wanting to flunk out because being a great mage is all he has ever wanted. Then when Yuu asks why this is his dream, Grim can't come up with an answer (which calls attention to Grim not really knowing much about himself or his past). As for book 4, expand more on Grim trying to break them out of Scarabia with a spoon. Play up Grim acting like he has to be the hero and do what he can to help his minion out of a tight spot! In book 5, have Grim help Yuu with coaching everyone or maybe getting a little jealous that there's so many people he has to share his living space with. Then Yuu can reassure him he's irreplaceable!! And sprinkle in more scenes where Yuu and Grim just connect over being outcasts, alone and unsure in this world but able to find solace in one another. By the time book 6 comes around, we'll have all these moments to look back fondly on and motivate us to rescue Grim, who cared so much for Yuu. Grim, whom we've developed a friendship with over the main story... Grim, who is now locked away in an unfamiliar face with no friends around...

For events, I'm willing to be a little more patient with him since 1) they're not canon to the main story and 2) Grim is obviously used just to shoehorn Yuu's presence into several events, especially the hometowns (through his whining about wanting to do something fun/to eat lots of tasty food). I can't recall a specific instance of Grim being super annoying in events... but I will say that I do find Grim annoying in Eternity Float. Grim seems a little overwritten here, if that makes sense??? He's acting more cartoonish and childish than usual... Like, Grim comedically chomps onto a large ham hanging from the ceiling with ZERO understanding that he needs to pay for it first?? And he wants a bigger slice of pizza (but Riddle tells him it's rude to reach across the table), so he tries spinning the plate instead, only for the pizza to go SPLAT on Malleus's face??? Then he hoses people down with a water gun... SORRY, did Grim mentally regress a few years???? OTL

Mmm... If I were in Yuu's shoes, I think I'd deal with Grim similarly with how I deal with my irl (non-specific) pet: sternly yet fairly? I'd try to train Grim, make sure he eats a balanced diet, gets exercise, and keeps stimulated, bathe him, take him out on walks, give him treats and toys if he's well-behaved, put him in the corner and have him think about what he did if he doesn't, always keep a first aid kit on hand... Oh, and I'd carry him everywhere either by the scruff or in a carrier bag. One hand on him at all times, or else he might wander off and cause trouble. I think it'd be hard dealing with his fire magic and rashness but 💦 I've been told I'm pretty patient, so I think I could handle it if I had to. Whether I'd LIKE it or not is another matter entirely. Grim is basically a little kid or a toddler, and I'm honestly not a fan of children. An animal being feisty is... fine, even cute. But the instant the animal starts giving me lip in complete sentences, it's a lot less charming. I still feel like Grim has the potential to grow on me over time though... There's a weird charm to his attitude, haha.

P.S. My (non-specific) pet says hi.

[furinfry]

How do you think Sakura will get very strong and become a top tier fighter like Endo and chika ? Do you think that Sakura needs power up or training arc ? 🤔

I talked on my thoughts on Sakura getting 'powerups' towards becoming a stronger fighter in this post previously, but overall my take is that I see Sakura as already BEING very strong and I don't think he needs to have his individual strength/skills get a "power up". His ability as a fighter (especially given that he's still just a first year) was more or less what got Endo's attention in the first place. But, the whole point of the series is that it is empty and meaningless to only care about power or fighting (once again tapping the "Is he actually a good fighter?" "Is that the only thing that matters to you?" sign). For many of Furin, their purpose wasn't even to be a good fighter in the way that Sakura believed was his own desire in the beginning (when he didn't know he didn't have to be alone); To many of our other beloved characters also in Bofurin, they had to learn how to fight and defend themselves because the world around them was cruel and wouldn't just let them (or people they loved) exist peacefully (rather... topical given current real life events).

As such, I think Sakura's personal growth is more towards him becoming this leading figure who brings together ALL the outcasts together. Who makes sure that everyone he meets knows that they will always have someone in their corner, and it will be Sakura. He wants to be able to be there not just for Furin, but for Shishitoren, Gravel, Roppo Ichiza, maybe even other gangs that will still be introduced as time goes on (I'd be so fascinated to see if any other members of Noroshi outside of Endo come back).

I don't think Sakura is going to become a fighter like Endo, or Chika, or even like Umemiya, and I would even be surprised if we got a full 'training arc' that goes beyond just the short training moments/montages we've gotten so far around the big fights. What I do think we're going to see is Sakura growing as a team fighter. Someone who doesn't fight alone, but someone who can really know his allies as well as their opponents. To become super perceptive of others' strengths, weaknesses, and know how to fight with his allies to become an unstoppable force. I think we're going to get Sakura become stronger through him learning and growing in more fights like him fighting alongside Sugishita in the Noroshi war arc.

^This is the direction I believe Sakura's growth as a fighter is going to continue to develop. Perhaps I will be proven wrong, but I really don't see too much focus being given to how well Sakura can fight independently anymore. I think it'll MUCH more be on how well he can fight side by side with others. Which is something I'm SO looking forward to, because we've already seen AMAZING choreographed partner/group fights such as the Sakaki brothers, and when Tsubaki and Kanji team up with others. (So many of the Noroshi War fights are going to go SO HARD if/when they get animated. Those fights are going to be SPECTACULAR)

[ultimate-marysue]

My personal body headcanons for the Batfam

Bruce: He is a tank made of pure muscle. Like many other users have put forward (recommend especially @frownyalfred posts on the matter), that's not an easy feat to pull off. It is a testament to Bruce's willpower and dedication to Batman that he's even able to maintain it. Also, I think he took really good care of his scars in the beginning so they would be as inconspicuous as possible when sleeping around as Brucie. Once he gets older and leans more into the father persona he stops caring as much for anything that's going to be covered by his suits and shirts.

Barbara: I hated the fact that her disability got completely erased, so that's the first difference. If you want to have her be Batgirl again, you should do what Gotham Knights did and make it so there are lasting effects and limitations. I'm sorry, but it feels so cheap to me that they just erased disability rep cause they didn't know how to write a strong disabled woman. Skill issue. Also Barbara is built like a brick in my heart of hearts, she's a rectangle with the density of a neutron star. I also think she has one of the healthiest and normal diets of the Bats, mainly cause the physical requirements of Oracle aren't nearly as demanding.

Dick Grayson: I'm not going to reinvent the wheel here by saying Dick Grayson has the perfect acrobat's body. My headcanon is that he gets it naturally. Not that he can just do whatever you want, sadly with their line of work you need to meet a series of requirements. I mean it in the sense of 1) proportions 2) really high metabolism from constant exercise since he was a child, probably the fastest tied with Cass 3) he doesn't need to work out as much outside patrol as the rest to keep his body mass. Every single robin after him low-key hates him for creating a fighting style that only he can do effortlessly.

Cassandra Cain: like mother like daughter, my girl is thick. None of that waifish, delicate ballerina shit. She's short and she has muscles most humans haven't heard of. Average goon tries to knock this 5 feet nothing girl only to be met by an unmovable object. Also, probably contender for top most scarred bat of all. She just looks like she could fuck your shit up without breaking a sweat and that's probably because she could. Also I think she has short legs, giving her an even lower center of gravity. She's just a brick wall.

Jason Todd: my man is one of the few bitches in this family with a normal, healthy, percentage of body fat. He's built like a strong man instead of a body builder, and the fact that he can be sneaky with all that mass is terrifying. I think for a minute there he wondered what he was doing wrong and why he didn't look as lean as Bruce. Then he figured what Bruce had to do to keep Batman's body in line and Jason said "fuck that, I'm not doing all that". In his villain self destructive era that waist was snatched, but the second he started taking actual care of his body it did what body's do. Considering how he mixes so many fighting techniques I can see him building his fighting style around his needs instead of the other way around.

Steph: she's the curviest of the Batgirls, which is why she favors so much the "indistinct blob" silhouette. As any woman with a boobs size above an B cup will tell you: people get disgusting really quick. I think part of her struggles with Robin was trying to wrangle her developing body into a fighting style designed for a very naturally lean boy. Balancing is harder when you have a large set of bazonkers, they don't tell you this in the comics but it is the truth. She also lacks the super fast metabolism other Bats have, and I can see her trying really hard to fit in the mold only to realize as she grows older that she can do her own thing.

Tim: I think Tim, growing up as society kid and then forcing himself into the Robin role, never learned what eating healthy is. I headcanon him having some sort of ED (I think he would evolve through a few of them as he grew up), not because I like throwing angst at characters (though I do) but because it makes sense to me giving his background and personality. EDs are not only about "looking thin", but also about feeling in control. Also, Tim hanging onto the Robin title reminds me of child actors trying to force their developing body's to stop at a kid size so they can keep playing their character. I could write a whole post about it, but for what's relevant, the ED headcanon doesn't mean Tim is just super thin. I think his body is fluctuates the most out of any of the Bats, depending on where he's at mentally and age wise.

Duke Thomas: my boy is built for parkour. He's got the longest limbs in the family, he's got the reach. He keeps waiting for puberty to hit him like a train and give him Jason/Bruce levels of muscle mass, but he's just too tall. Like, yes, he can bench press Jason, but proportionally he's so much taller than all of them by then he just looks noodly. When he puts on the body armor though he makes Batman look like a Barbie doll. Anytime he's looming about, Jason accuses him of overcompensating. Duke just pretends to not be able to hear him from up above. Also pls DC give him long hair that floats around him in the same way Batman's cape does?? Pls, just give him magic girl hair that defies gravity.

Damian: I've said this before but this poor child grew up being told he'd one day be as huge as his dad but grows up to be Talia 2.0. I think he does inherit Bruce's height, but is distraught to never be hulking mountain of muscle like OG Batman. Little does he know Bruce isn't naturally that big either, and it's only through frankly unhealthy means he maintained that body. Everyone else agrees to never tell Damian about it so he won't even think to try it, and instead focus on reassuring him he's more than strong enough to inherit the title if that's what's bothering him. It ends up playing in his favor, Cass is proof that you don't need to be huge to instill the fear of God into people. And the way he moves, like a panther stalking his prey, is more than enough to make the rogues quake.

[dresshistorynerd]

This is kind of random, but would it have been a struggle for a big busted women to wear fashionable silhouettes in the medieval era? I’ve heard some costume historians discuss that there were forms of bust support, but most of what I’ve seen pre-1500s seems like it would have been a nightmare for any ancestor with a similar bodytype to wear. Am I just from a line of women doomed to horrible back pain? (On the flip side of the situation, I’ve found corsets and stays to be rather comfortable, so that’s not a problem)

As a fellow big boob haver, I have good news for you! There were pretty good Medieval bust supporting garments and I have tested one of them.

With sturdy fabric, tailoring and lacing you can create pretty good bust support. Lacing was popularized first in 12th century in form of bliaut, and in 14th century tailoring became standard for everyday garments. I don't know how well bliaut supported the bust, but since it doesn't fit super snugly, I assume it doesn't distribute the weight of the boobs as well as tailored supporting garments and therefore isn't as supportive. I'm also not actually sure if there was proper bust supporting garments before that, I haven't looked into it. I know Romans bound their breasts with cloth wrapped around the chest, so maybe that technique continued (at least for those who especially needed it) till lacing and tailoring became a thing. For more about how supporting garments developed in Europe through history, I have a post about development of lacing, which coincides pretty well with that history from 12th century forward.

Personally I have experience with Medieval Bathhouse dress, which was used in the Germanic Central-European area roughly in 14th to 16th century. It's called the Bathhouse dress because most depictions of it are from bathhouse settings, but there's depiction also in bed chambers and other contexts, so I think it's pretty safe to assume it was used more generally as an undergarment. It often had separate cups for the boobs (see the only extant garment left of it, the so called "Lengberg Castle Bra"), but not always. Unlike most other undergarments at the time, it was sort of a shift (the lowest layer) and a supporting garment combined into one.

I sewed my own recreation of it (with some alterations because I made it for my everyday use, not as a historical recreation) and did a post about my results, where I go deeper into the history of the garment too. I didn't construct it very well and I did an error in the design of the back, which cause the strain of the shoulder straps to focus too much on very specific spots in the back panel, which eventually made the fabric there break too many times. (There were some other smaller design flaws too, like the waistline is lower than my natural waist so it rose and wrinkled annoyingly.) I did use it daily (except when I washed it) for a fairly long time though and it was super comfortable and helped a lot with back pain (and shoulder pain caused by use of modern bras). I hate that I've had to go back to modern bras because I haven't had the time to remake it yet. (I'll probably make a follow up post once I get around to it, where I go through the issues of the first version and how I addressed them in the next attempt.) Well fitted and shaped bodice which is then laced does surprisingly much even without any additional reinforcements.

I haven't made a Medieval kirtle (though I will some day), but it was the more widely used Medieval supporting garment, which eventually replaced Bathhouse dress in the area where that was used. Kirtle is worn over a shift, but it broadly works similarly. Kirtles could be front, side or back laced depending on the time period and how the Kirtle was constructed. Multiple layers of kirtles could be used and looser overgarments (like houppelande) were often used on top of it. Kirtle was used by everyone, including men, but for those who didn't need bust support, it's purpose was mainly to create the fashionable silhouette. Here's three depictions of kirtles from 15th century. First unlaced, but has lacing on the front, second close up of the side lacing and third shows nicely how both front and side/backlacing shaped the bust.

Morgan Donner is a costumer, who focuses a lot on Medieval costuming and has a big bust, so while I haven't personally tested the supportiveness of kirtle, she certainly has. The kirtle bodice part needs to be patterned to accommodate the breasts by giving it round shapes and the kirtle needs to be a little too small so there's room to lace it to fit well. Lining also helps to reinforce the fabric and make it more firm and supportive. Here's Morgan's pattern from the tutorial in her website and how the kirtle eventually fits for her. (Also look at the handsome boy in his handsome matching outfit.)

She also has a video relating to the same kirtle project, where she explains her method to pattern a kirtle specifically so it's supportive for big bust.

In 16th century more stiffness was added to kirtles, first with very stiff lining and then with boning, but that doesn't necessarily add to the bust support, rather it just allows the kirtle to shape the bust and the body in general more and better support a heavy skirt. Firm fabric secured snugly with lacing is already very good at distributing the weight of the boobs to the whole torso.

In conclusion, at least since 14th century people with our body type were not doomed to eternal back pain and even before that some ways to help with it were probably used.

[resolutepath]

⭐️ ― convincing portrayal of a canon character 💻 ― excellent writing 📚 ― nice threads to read 😍 ― admiring from afar

I'm picking two for each of these so I get to give more compliments, so let's go:

⭐️ ― convincing portrayal of a canon character

So firstly I'm going to say @hatefueled makes a great Boothill. Kero is clearly very invested in Boothill and I love the development that's been done both in his canon and across a range of verses. The way he is transferred to different contexts still feels very true to his core as a character and of course the way I feel he is truly so well embodied is within our dynamic against my Rappa. I really think Kero portrays Boothill so well and I love to see on my dash! and the second I picked for this one is @hxkerwxlf because I truly have not seen anyone embody Silver Wolf so well. I'm half convinced I'm actually witnessing the Silver Wolf on my dash. She has such a unique way of interacting with the world that is hard to replicate, but EKR is doing it so authentically and I really enjoy seeing it.

💻 ― excellent writing

Going to give this one to @guhamun first because I love what Shi does with muses. I've interacted with a couple now and seen a few more on my dash and I just think that they are so well portrayed. I'm always super excited to see one of our threads come up and I'm looking forward to seeing where they go because of the plotting we have done. The writing reads really well and they keep me invested in the plotlines and characters we are exploring so easily. and secondly I'm giving this to @deadn30n ! I just really love how you can see the sheer enthusiasm for the characters in the writing. You can tell how well the muses are loved because there is dedication and care put into writing them. It makes you care about them, and feel like you know them even if you aren't familiar with the source material. When I finally came to reading SVSSS and met Luo Binghe, I had a ah its you moment rather than a oooh new character because the writing was so good I recognised him first.

📚 ― nice threads to read

well this one's going to @caemthe because how can I not give it to Liri with the sheer amount of investment and background discussions that go into our threads. I thrive in seeing what Liri comes up with, and it always flows so nicely, builds up the moment that the characters are caught in and gives something fun to engage with. Genuinely such beautifully crafted replies, rich with character and plot and some of my favourite reading to do. A notification of Liri dropping me something definitely makes my day every time. and @starshinc of course because Pon's threads, particularly our Rody and Deku are always fun to read, and easy going and the perfect remedy for a blue day. I really love Izuku and how he engages with my characters and Pon's enthusiasm for this character. One of my favourites to have on my dash and the threads are so easy in terms of flow and readability without detracting from characterisation and plot that they certainly are a must have on my dash.

😍 ― admiring from afar

I'd say @seraphynm gets this simply because we're not interacting as much yet (but we will be once I get things going on my end!) A brilliant range of muses with some stunning characterisations. I really enjoy seeing what vega is doing and love the range of verses available. I really am a fan of crossover verses that are wellbuilt and this is exactly what I am being sold here. I'm really looking forward to interacting with more. and @muraenide also gets this, because again we're starting out but not quite there yet, mostly because I owe on the plotting conversation fkjdhfdsk But a really interesting muse who is clearly understood so well and has been dived into and explored thoroughly. The prospective plots I have been offered interest me thoroughly and I am looking forward to diving into writing together.

[silenzahra]

Hey there, my amazing spiritual twin!

Don't mind me, I just invited myself in to gush over your writing for a moment😁 You'd better get comfortable because this might be a bit lengthy. Here we go!

So that little snippet from your angsty Brothership wip you were kind enough to share with me in your answer to my ask? So good, I was basically reduced to a little happy dog, wagging my tail and all that jazz, because I'm just so excited to read, no, to DEVOUR the whole thing once it's ready! It's gonna be totally awesome, I already know it🔥

Your other ideas you shared with me in the past? Looking forward to those too! Take as much time as you need with them though, I'm happy to know I'll have so much Zahra Writing to read in the future, possibly and hopefully for years to come🥰

And "Without him", the story you wrote based on my art? Oh my goodness, even just thinking about it still makes me so emotional🥹 Not only is it inspired by my art and a wonderful birthday present for me (and that's not even the only one you gave me! The other one was a banger too!), but it was also an incredibly written masterpiece imho. I've been itching to reread it, and I think I'll do it soon!

And you've been writing shorter stories based on my art as well as others', too, and they also deserve love and appreciation! I'm so honored to be among the artists who inspire you🫶 I can only hope to continue to do so!

Now, I know that your Luaisy stories in particular mean a lot to you. I'm sorry that I'm not quite the target audience for those and can't match your level of enthusiasm for the couple😅 But you know that, at least to my knowledge, I've still read them all, just like the Mareach ones. They're all very nicely written, my super talented twin! I think you can write any kind of relationship well, and I would actually love to see more of father-daughter stuff from you about Luigi and your OC Violet🥰

I love how music, usually your favorite band Estopa's, can inspire your writing. I love how you write the Mario characters and especially the Mario Bros. and the relationship between them. I adore the way you portray emotions and thoughts of the characters making it very easy to connect with them. How you describe action, how you can build suspense and atmosphere. I admire and respect the fact that you write your stories in Spanish first and then translate to English, effectively doing both the typical writing + editing work AND translation on top of that. You are amazing, and I wish you'd believe it as much as I, as well as many others, do.

Also, in the light of my recently developed anxiety and problems with sleeping, the comfort aspect of your fics is appreciated more than ever... I remember when Biggest Fear was able to calm me down enough to help me fall asleep as you advised me to🥲

You are an incredible writer whose works I love to reread (as you know, and so does my phone's browser - remember?) and I'm very confident that what you write in the future will be glorious! Please, have faith in yourself, because you know I do❤️💚🫂

I hope you feel better soon! Now, it wouldn't be a complete Emotional Support Ask from your twin without some hug gifs, so:

I love you, okay? Please be kind to yourself☺️❤️

Mugi. My EXTREMELY BELOVED twin bro. I know you sent this ask a couple of nights ago and I couldn't answer it earlier, but as you know I screenshoted it and I've been rereading it over and over again... and it never fails to move me deeply 🥹🥹🥹

My inbox is your inbox, of course!! It ALWAYS makes me so happy and giddy to see I got a new ask from you 🥹🥹 And this time you sent a long one because you knew I'm struggling with my writing lately... Seriously, if I loved you more, my heart would BURST 😭😭🫂🫂

Okay, your words about my Brothership WIP have me wagging my tail like a happy dog 🥹🥹🥹 Oh, Mugi, it means the entire UNIVERSE to me that you enjoyed the snippet so much!! Dnsojgnsripsapkvsedlñ your words are seriously so motivating, holy cow 😭😭😭 I have to say, even if I haven't touched that fic in a while, I'm actually quite proud with how it was turning out. And... the climax of the story will be even MORE angsty than the snippet I shared 👀👀👀 I may or may not be feeling like going back to it TODAY thanks to your supportive and encouraging words, bro. I literally can't thank you enough for giving me the boost that I needed to resume that fic at last and focus entirely on it. You have this power over me and I just can't thank you enough 🫂❤️💚

I'm so glad that you remember all my ideas that I've shared with you!! 🥹🥹 I know I'm taking forever to bring them all to life, but awww I'm so MOVED that you want more Zahra Writing for the future 😭😭😭 Seriously, you loving my writing so much makes me wanna scream and kick my feet and warms my heart so much. I'm over the moon right now 🥹😭🫂 You shall have your wish granted, bro, even if I'll still take some time. But I'll do it for you 💚❤️

Oh my God, you still get emotional just by thinking of Without him??? 😭😭😭 I absolutely LOVED your reblog and I swear I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw you being so touched, bro 🥹🥹🥹 I'm HONORED that my story could make you feel this way, Mugi. I kept you in my mind all the time while I was working on it and I wanted it to be as perfect as possible since it was meant for you. I LOVED bringing two of your amazing pieces together and gifting the story to you for your birthday, together with the rewrite of An electrical aura. I'm looking forward to writing more stories for you in the future, and I just couldn't be happier that you enjoyed this first fic that I wrote inspired by your art. I'm seriously about to cry that you consider it a masterpiece, like WHAT 😭😭😭 Thank you SO MUCH, my twin 🫂🫂🫂 I hope you'll enjoy rereading it just as much as the first time you read it 🥹💚❤️

Aww yes, I absolutely LOVE writing short stories for some specific pieces 🤩🤩 Thank you for acknowledging them too, bro!! I know I haven't done it too often but I've 100% enjoyed every single time that I did 🥰🥰 As you can see your art continues to be VERY inspiring for me, and I'm so glad you've enjoyed the short drabbles that I've written so far!! Again I'm looking forward to doing it more in the future, and of course I have my eye on your art 😁😁 I have no doubt you'll continue to inspire me, bro!! 🥰🥰

Oh please, Mugi, don't apologize for not sharing my Luaisy obsession with me 😭🫂 I totally get that you're not into it, and you know I deeply appreciate that you still went and read my two Luaisy fics as well as the Mareach ones. It touches me deeply that you wanna read everything that I write even when it's not your cup of tea 🥹🥹 You're one of my biggest supporters, reading even what you don't fully enjoy just so I can feel your love and support. Believe me: I do feel them 🫂🫂🫂 And I'm so grateful. One of the greatest lucks in my life is having you as my amazing twin brother. You make me feel so good about myself ❤️💚

Also! I DO wanna write more content with Luigi being my little Violet's dad and them bonding together and all that 🥹🥹 Actually, ever since I listened to a certain song that someone showed me a few days ago, I've felt the need to write them together again very soon... 🤭 And OMG thank you for saying that I can write any relationship, that's also such a great boost for my self-esteem as a writer 😭🫂

... Okay, your next paragraph has me ugly sobbing, my twin 🥲🥲🥲 You basically praised ALL aspects of my writing, like... What if I CRY 😭😭😭 Seriously, I feel like printing it and hanging it up in my wall so I can have a constant reminder of what makes my writing so good. And why my beloved bro loves it so much. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU. Just, you're helping me remember why I love writing so much. Every single thing that you listed... I love it all. I love doing it all. Even the translation thing as much as at times I struggle, especially with idioms. But I still enjoy it, just as much as everything else. I... I sincerely don't see myself as being amazing, but I'll believe it because you said so 👉👈 I'm so honored that you and so many others see me this way. I promise that I'm working on it, and your words truly are helpful and helpe me believe in myself. I shall listen to my beloved and awesome twin bro. Thank you 🫂💚❤️

Oh, Mugi 🥺🥺 Believe me, I'd do WHATEVER I could do to fully erase the anxiety from your life. It's not easy at all to live with it... so I'm deeply moved and relieved that my fics can comfort you, especially Biggest fear. Even if I can't be physically there for you, my words can, so in a way it's like I'm actually there by your side. And it warms my heart so much 🫂🫂

Guabiedmnglksd there you go again, making me cry once more 😭😭🫂🫂 I know that you love rereading my stuff and I still get so emotional whenever I remember it 🥹🥹 Your confidence in me really is contagious, my twin, because you really make me feel like I'm capable of doing anything. Your faith in me is deeply appreciated, and I shall cultivate mine so I can continue to share more stories in the future that will hopefully be able to bring you more comfort. Just like you've done with me through this amazing, encouraging, and very touching ask that means EVERYTHING to me 🫂❤️💚

I love you so much, my dear brother. Thank you for everything that you do for me 🫂💚❤️

[thefaiao]

Do you remember what hooked you on the LISA series? It's a decently impactful set of games so I'm curious as to why you've created so many drawings from it

A great question. I don't think I can answer this with absolute precision, but I'll try. I'll begin explaining how exactly I first got into drawing LISA, and we'll work from there to the reason I believe I am still compelled to draw more of it.

I first played and finished LISA at the end of 2016. I was decently active at that point, but hadn't garnered much attention to my drawings. I had made a Hotline Miami post that had gotten decently popular, and a few Yogscast(1)(2)(3) drawings that also did decently well, but overall nothing super noteworthy. Most Yog fans at the time weren't into what I liked mainly, which was Shadow of Israphel.

I was immature at the time, so had a hard time connecting with people in fandoms. Not to mention, I was a Brasilian in a sea of Americans and Europeans. You'd be surprised how hard it was to relate with people in that setting, but I tried here and there.

I felt pretty strongly about the HM post though, since it felt like a great personal achievement. I felt a drawing I had a clear vision for had achieved what I set out to do with it. Seeing how much people liked it, it was pretty magical when you've never had a post "do well".

Anyway, people were hopping out of tumblr and onto twitter, and I did as well. Twitter, despite everything, sort of puts you way closer to other people. Your reply to someone important is very visible and hard to ignore. It was a type of equalizer. There I had gotten to get my drawings actually seen and shared by Austin, the guy who made the LISA games.

Having had my drawings shared and recognized that way had a strong impact on me, and I even got to talk with an artist I really looked up to at the time, Maren, who had also gotten into LISA. She had done art for SBFP and TF2, so it felt surreal to me to be acknowledged by someone like that. Up to that point I really felt like more of a passive observer to everything.

In 2014 I finished high-school, and 2015 I spent the whole year learning how to draw better. I tried so hard that I ended up dissociating, a very scary emotion, that I didn't even know was a thing at the time. It felt like all that time and effort was starting to pay off, and that there was a way forward here.

First I posted sketches, and the passion I had for the game and motivation from the recognition led me to put a lot more effort than usual into my drawings. I ended up making these, which got really popular, it was very validating.

So because of all that I kept drawing. I'll be honest, a lot of the time I just wanted to get even more of the attention of these weird new cool popular friends that were paying attention to me for some reason. I was very lonely at the time. I think I stayed lonely for a long time after too.

But eventually people move on, as is normal with fandoms. I didn't really feel my passion for drawing and LISA die out though. I had started a massive LISA art project at the time, that took me 5 long years, and also was more focused in college, where I did Game Design.

Drawing wise, eventually I branched out to other RPGmaker games, but LISA was very easy to draw. It was sort of a home-base for me. Something I could come back to when I was uncertain.

I think Urasawa put it quite well, with Billy Bat:

Drawing the same characters over and over is extremely rewarding, and a great way to reflect on your progress so far. I suppose it's meditative, but that's not quite the right word. It's very fun and constructive, and people can also keep track of your progress through that. I did the same with OFF characters, a game I had drawn way before all this.

Of course, I had a lot of issues because of how things developed. I related a lot of my self-worth with the validation I received from people online, and I still do, to an extent...

When I started taking the game I'm making, Meanderer, more seriously, and started living alone, posting anything felt awful. I didn't have the energy for bombastic posts, or the time spent developing the way I draw the characters like I did for LISA, that is, with ease and style. It felt very humiliating, but I understand it was a warped view of things.

It was a long and depressing time in my life, but it taught me a few important lessons, and made me sort of re-evaluate how I engage with "online" overall. But I still liked drawing LISA throughout all of this, I almost felt ashamed of it to a certain point.

All of this isn't to say I didn't love the game itself. It wasn't all just context. I really, really love LISA. It drove me to sobbing tears, which I don't think another game has gotten out of me. It's a fantastic game, that really showed what fresh things you could do with the medium. When I played it I'm not sure I fully understood how much I loved games.

I just grew up with the characters of LISA. Maybe not in my adolescence, but definitely in my adulthood, and with my art. These characters help me orient myself, understand my limits. And it's damn fun to get better at drawing them. Even just a character on an empty blank canvas, with only black and white lines. It's the most fun in the whole world.

To finish it off, I have a general philosophy of not republishing drawings. So whenever I want to do a LISA post I have to draw a LISA post. Just keep drawing and drawing. Don't get hung up on one drawing or idolize one thing you did. Keep making things. It doesn't have to make sense. Just keep drawing.

(There was a power outage while writing this and I had to retype this whole damn post by the way. Appreciate it!)

[amerricanartwork]

It's kinda crazy to think that my latest sketchbook — the one I've been working on for around two years now — is finally finished. Even more so since this is technically the first sketchbook I've actually finished all the way through! I've had others in the past, but most of the ones I still have are barely even halfway completed.

I didn't want to stress too much about making something super big and elaborate to finish it off the way some sketchbook artists start and finish their sketchbooks, but at the same time I wanted there to be a sense of closure and satisfaction with the last page. I decided to finish off this sketchbook with a simple, yet nice colored pencil drawing as a way of both leaving off with a fun and relaxing drawing and showing how much I've developed from the quick and messy Feryn pencil scribbles I began this sketchbook with. And looking back on it, I really did grow in a lot of ways as I made this, in my interests as well as the processes I used, knowledge I gained, and even mediums I found enjoyment with.

I'm so glad I managed to finish my first sketchbook, and so thankful to have gotten so much fun art and useful skills from working on it. Now, it's time to see how I'll keep moving forward with my next sketchbook...!

P.S. Here is one of the draft pages I made to figure out the lighting of this piece:

[icedragonlizard]

This is something I've seen as a problem for a long while now, but now I think this may be a good time to talk about it because Kirby Air Riders has recently been revealed:

I think some of the Kirby fandom has been needlessly mean-spirited to Sakurai.

People have made negative assumptions about him. I've seen many people say that he's biased towards the specific Kirby games that he directed (especially Super Star) and that he doesn't like modern Kirby and maybe even hates it, as well as other types of slander. I've seen people literally get worried about how Sakurai is the one directing Kirby Air Riders, thinking that it won't feature anything from the Kumazaki-directed Kirby games.

To be fair, I can understand where the assumption of him being biased to Super Star and other Kirby games he directed comes from. Just look at the Kirby franchise's representation in the Smash Bros games. I myself feel underwhelmed by how the Smash Bros games handle the Kirby franchise. But I don't consider that an excuse to badmouth Sakurai and make rude assumptions about him.

I don't actually think he hates modern Kirby. I get the feeling he does appreciate modern Kirby. I've heard he gets along with HAL nowadays and there's even been photos of him and Kumazaki. There doesn't appear to be any clashing whatsoever between Sakurai-Kirby and Kumazaki-Kirby. That, and Sakurai has also just been focusing on so many other franchises.

I very much look forward to what Kirby Air Riders has in store for us! This is the first time Sakurai has been involved in the development of a Kirby game since the original Kirby's Air Ride over 20 years ago on the GameCube. It'll be very interesting to see how he handles Kirby nowadays.

I actually do believe he'd be willing to include at least some of the Kumazaki-era Kirby stuff onto Air Riders, whether it be characters introduced in the era, or music from that era, or locations from that era, or pretty much just in any way. I'm not going to have super high expectations in that regard... like I'm not expecting them to make all of the Dream Friends playable characters (as awesome as that'd be), but I think having an open mind is good instead of assuming he'd just make it all Super Star vibes. I'm not worried that Sakurai is directing Air Riders.

I wouldn't be surprised if Kumazaki could be involved in Air Riders' development one way or another, because clearly he and Sakurai do get along perfectly well.

If Air Riders does actually include Kumazaki-era Kirby stuff in any capacity, then that should stop all the mean assumptions about Sakurai. But if he does end up sticking to having the game only include stuff from the Kirby games he directed.... I'll be honest, I won't be upset about that. After all, he hasn't directed a Kirby game for decades, I just think it's cool he's coming back to it, and really just let the man make what he wants.

[rivalsforlife]

Ace Attorney Investigations Collection Interview Highlight

This is coming a little late - on September 1st, just before the release of the AAI collection, there was an interview on Netlab with Tatsuro Iwamoto (character designer), Kenichi Hashimoto (named in this article as the producer of the AA series overall), and Shunsuke Nishida (producer of the AAIC collection) about the games. It's a long interview with a lot of interesting elements including the reactions to the announcement, a brief mention of the consideration of changing some moments for modern times (example given is the LGBTQ content in the 456 collection - I believe referring to some events in DD, but no specifics), details into the process of upgrading the character minisprites, the staff's favorite characters and cases, why Franziska is 13 in the key art, and other fun details. The part I want to highlight here is what they say about upcoming merch and the future of the ace attorney series.

This small segment of the interview had one part previously translated by nintendoeverything, but there are some little details that I noticed in the full interview that were incorrect so I'm posting this here. But please note that I'm doing this primarily with auto-translate with tiny corrections on the tiny bits of AA-related words in Japanese that I know, which isn't much, so there are likely still inaccuracies in this. Please don't hesitate to correct me if you spot any!

--The " Ace Attorney Series" merchandise has been very popular, including the "Ace Attorney Investigations Lottery" held on Capkuji Online. What do you think about fans purchasing merchandise? Hashimoto : As for merchandise, I have the impression that it sells out across the board for the past few years. The "Ace Attorney" series merchandise is basically sold out on the first day, and it's the same for the "Ace Attorney Investigations" series. This year is the 15th anniversary of the "Ace Attorney Investigations" series, and I've been talking to the store staff about "putting out a lot of Ace Attorney Investigations-related merchandise". There are things that we haven't been able to put out before because it's the 15th anniversary, so this year, the "Ace Attorney Investigations" series is especially hot. There are still some goods that haven't been released, so please look forward to them.

Since there hasn't been much AAI merchandise since around the time of the original release of AAI, I'm super looking forward to seeing what they'll put out. The Capkuji Online lottery they speak of is the one that had the giant tsum of Edgeworth, and I really hope they someday will make that available for general purchase.

--Many fans are hoping that purchasing merchandise will lead to new releases, but is that actually the case? Hashimoto: That's true. The fact that we have such passionate players' support is something that the entire company, including the management, can recognize, even more than just us developers, so it's very important. Of course, the sales of merchandise itself do not cover the development costs of new titles, but it does lead to discussions about how to develop the game in the future if it's that popular, so the fact that people are purchasing merchandise is a very important indicator.

AA merchandise does seem to be doing very well.

--Since this is a work with many overseas fans, we asked overseas users, "What would you like to tell the developers? What would you like them to hear?" Particularly impressive was the feedback from users living in independent language regions, who were pleased with the multilingual support for "Ace Attorney Investigations 1 & 2 Collection," following "Ace Attorney Apollo Justice Trilogy." In the midst of all this, the one thing that has been attracting attention is the future development of the "Ace Attorney Investigations Series." What are your thoughts on this? Hashimoto : We will not stop the "Ace Attorney Investigations Series" content. Of course, we want to develop it in various ways, including other media types. I think there will be something to tell you when it is time to make an announcement, but at the moment I can't say anything.

This part is what was translated in the interview I linked, but it misses a few key distinctions: One is the specification of "Ace Attorney Investigations" over "Ace Attorney". (Or "Gyakuten Kenji" vs "Gyakuten Saiban", if that makes things clearer.) So that makes me think that this isn't referring to an AA7 or Apollo Justice anime, but something specific to the AAI games -- whether that's an anime adaptation, maybe another stage play, or possibly in the future...... aai3.

Another note is what the translated interview calls "mixed media", which comes from "メディアミックス" (literally "media mix"). "Mixed media" in English, to my knowledge, generally refers to a single piece of art which is made up of different forms, which is not what they're talking about here. The Japanese term used here appears to mean more of a "multimedia franchise" - extending the series beyond just games, to other forms that will bring in a wider audience - which makes me think they have something in the works that's not a new game, but something in a different form related to AAI. So I'm curious about what they have planned, whether it would be an adaptation of the existing games or original work with the same characters like my favorite stage play Turnabout Teleportation.

And on the topic of stage plays...

--While there are many die-hard fans of the plays, unfortunately the performance of " Ace Attorney: Turnabout Parallel World " has been postponed. Will we ever get to see lawyer Miles Edgeworth, the perfect idol Franziska von Karma, and the number one host Larry Butz? Also, is there any possibility of a novelization? Iwamoto : (Whispering) Please say it. Please say it more (laughs). Hashimoto : Due to the schedules of the cast, it may be difficult to do it in exactly the same format, but I personally would like to see it. I'm always thinking about how I want to do it and make it happen.

Turnabout Parallel World was a stage play intended for 2020 that got postponed for obvious reasons... and then rescheduled for 2021, where it was postponed again for the same obvious reasons. It hasn't been officially cancelled and we haven't heard anything about it since then, and to my knowledge this is the first acknowledgement of it since then. It does sound like they want to include it in some way.

Novelizations of new AA stories aren't a new concept, but have typically been Japan-only and not gained much traction in the English-speaking fandom.

Finally, Hashimoto's comments to close out the interview:

Hashimoto: As I mentioned at the beginning, I thought it was important to have people play existing content on the current platform, and with the release of "Ace Attorney Investigations 1 & 2 Collection," we're finally ready. I want to deliver it to people who don't know about the "Ace Attorney Series" or haven't touched it, including people in countries with additional languages, as well as in Japan. As I mentioned earlier, we will not stop the "Ace Attorney Series" after that, and it will continue to the 25th and 30th anniversaries. We would like to continue preparing for new developments and expand the series.

The use of "Ace Attorney Series" here doesn't make a distinction between mainline or investigations (just "Gyakuten series"). So while there's definitely something in the works for AAI, there's probably something for mainline as well.

The 25th anniversary is coming up fairly soon in 2026, with the 30th anniversary in 2031. This is not nearly as far away as it feels like it should be. Judging by this interview and similar ones over the last year, it feels more and more likely that we will be getting new ace attorney content in one form or another in the next couple of years at least.

Of note to the Athena fans, the interview also contains this comment from Hashimoto, when talking about favorite characters in AAIC and the series overall:

Throughout the series, I've always liked Athena (Cykes). I've always thought to myself, "I wonder if there's something Athena can do as the main character?" (laughs).

It's not the most serious statement or necessarily a promise, but maybe the tiniest nugget of hope for Athena fans.

Anyways, those are the highlights of the interview from me - again please correct me if there's anything that needs correcting. I highly encourage people to check out the full interview since it has lots of interesting stuff, and hopefully there will be a properly translated version of it out someday!

[laurarolla]

Before the cooperative sportsball mode in Arknights begins, let's look back on a few thoughts from the finale of Act II of the main story, "Absolved Will Be The Seekers." Also, thanks to Wis'adel, I was easily able to clear all four of the hell stages, and I can probably finally go back and clear the previous chapter hell stages and finally get those upgrade tokens I'm missing for the chapter ops.

First, I enjoyed the little moment in the middle where the Followers trio get to clown on those Confessari pricks. Love seeing those fascist bloodsuckers lose. XP

Moving on, the overarching story of why Theresa returned and her goals with the Originium Assimilation were rather interesting, especially in what we seem to have learned about Arknights possible overarching villain, Priestess. It's nice that the citizens of Victoria will no longer be abused and murdered by the Sarkaz now that Theresis and his loyal forces are off to do something else, but getting his hands on the Originium stone that sort of represents the "original sin" of the Teekaz is not a good sign for the future. Beyond that, it's somewhat unclear how much of what Theresa did in the Assimilated Universe was actually her choice. I think it was a great act of mercy and love to finally free the Myriad Souls from the Originium, granting them the freedom to truly die instead of being trapped in the stagnant tomb of Originium. Unfortunately, I think the Originium she handed to Theresis very much falls under Priestess's plans to "continue the experiment." In the end, everything seems to be progressing as she has planned.

A few nice bits about Priestess that we got to see (if we are to believe anything she said to us) include that she's not a member of the same people as the Doctor, and previously spent her time recording sounds of dying worlds. Originium is not only a way for her to show that she deserved to stand alongside Oracle as an equal, but also became a way for her to record the dying breath of each and every world if her experiment succeeds. She seems genuinely motivated out of a love for what she's seen and heard across the universe, but she can't accept the transient nature of life. Whether there's some actual intentional malevolent force she's trying to use Originium to avoid, or just straight up entropy, she's so desperate to cheat death that she sees life as a threat to her efforts. It has left her cold in her interactions with the Doctor, who has fully regained their ability to love life and accept its limited nature while seeking to improve the lives of those they meet on their journey. I theorized that the Doctor may be been manipulated or controlled by Priestess during Babel, and at this point, I'm now sure not only that they were manipulated, but that they can't be manipulated in the same way anymore. Kal'tsit also rejected Priestess, and Amiya figured out how to use the Civilight Eterna to manipulate some aspects of the Assimilated Universe. I'm interested to see how these rejections affect things later in regards to Priestess's intentions.

Looking forward to future encounters with Eblana now that she's kinda the main threat to the current Victorian hierarchy, especially since she got one of the dukes on her side. Overall, though, I think we'll get most of the important immediate follow-up for Victoria when the Siege Alter event comes in about 4 or 5 months.

Wis'adel got her name finally and I'm super happy about that. Her journey from the beginning to now has been great, although I think most of her big character development is basically complete now. It's nice to have a character get their Alter form from an event or something that has significant personal story growth, with Wis'adel and Silence probably being my favorite alter/story intersections so far. Eyja's was also quite nice.

I'm also gonna say that Civilight Eterna (Theresa's Phantom) is herself a product of the Civilight Eterna arts ability I previously theorized/observed. She was largely created through Amiya pulling memories from the past and binding them into a phantom clone that Theresa left as a kind of keepsake. Basically, she's there because both she and Amiya want her to be there, and each used the power of the King of the Sarkaz to manifest her. That's why she has actual memories and arts powers from Theresa, albeit not as strong. I also love that how Amiya created the staff was to reshape Yin Xiao into an arts staff, reforging a sword seeking vengence into a tool of healing. Very simple but very effective.

Oh, and after 300 pulls I got Nearl the Radiant Knight from the shop, and my last free pull today was Mizuki, so now I have all the Ambushers... except Kirara.

[bekaterrier]

It's that time of the week again! Happy Audio Drama Sunday! Still traveling so still listening to a bunch of different podcasts.

Residents of @proserpinapark Ep 37 - Devilish Lovers: A quick episode this week! It's interesting to hear about myths and mythical creatures that are so similar across different cultures. It was also good to get even the tiniest mention of the Park in NJ. Looking forward to everyone coming together at some point!

Give Me Away Episode 5 - My Body Is Your Body & Episode 6 - This Is My Home: Ep 4 ended on a cliffhanger so where do we start with ep 5? A flashback of course! It was actually so interesting hearing what had been going on since the beginning with so many of the people in Red Camp. Then in ep 6, finally getting to hear how Graham interacts with his new companion. The Innovator certainly seems like an interesting person, and I'm sure their dynamic will continue to evolve. All the while, Jamie is in the background sowing chaos!

@camlannpod Episode 6 - The Sheep And The Goats & Episode 7 - Under The Hill: All I'd heard about Camlann was its connection to Arthurian tales, so I was not expecting the shift to Greece. It was so good and interesting though! I don't know why, but I hadn't thought about what other stories would have come alive. It certainly makes you think about which other ones might be out there. As soon as Perry started talking about fairies I knew to expect some trickery! They were so adamant about Dai coming back (even though he was not storied) that it made me wonder... Then some of the hints from the fairies... All leading up to to that big reveal!! Ahh!!

@midnightburgr Welcome to the Horizon Part 6 - Back to the Black: I was giggling and kicking my feet for the first 20 minutes... Just let Verge and Deidre be happy!! It's always fun hearing Verge be a badass though. Poor Deidre, constant emotional whiplash over the course of just a few hours. Her whole world just turned upside down several times over. Aside: The music this episode was fantastic!

@starsfellradio S1 & S2 re-listen: When WTSF was releasing S3 last year, my brain would not cooperate and listen. With the traveling I've been doing recently and the burnout recovery, I've finally been able to get back into it! I, of course, had to re-listen to S1 & S2. It's so good. Ed and Lucy's growth and evolution together, the wild incidents that keep happening, the fantastic music that starts coming in during S2, Michael the archangel getting domesticated... Love it all.

Where The Stars Fell S3 Episodes 20 - 23 & Forgive Me! Crossover - Forgive Where the Stars Fell: The countdown to the rapture has started! The first four episodes of the season cover a lot - Ed learning about new abilities, Lucy finding Joseph's coat of many colours which hides her wings, slime mold comes to life, an unconventional evangelist comes to town, a body swap episode, the Dave Matthews Band incident, a chili cook-off, and a promposal! Gosh I love this town. I also wanted to shout out the crossover with Forgive Me! because it was such a fantastic, fascinating episode. We know Ed has been dealing with a lot since finding out she's the Antichrist, and this was such a great opportunity for her to really voice how's she's feeling about it all, especially the Big Guy.

Case Study: IREC-A59 Episode 5 - Contact *Terms and Conditions May Apply: We have contact! They can finally understand each other! And thanks to that, we're starting to get more info about both sides of this story. 13 other intelligent species; humans have developed warp travel! ; the captain is super protective; the council may not be letting the humans go anytime soon...

@starfallpod Act 1, Scene xiv: Hearing the bits of Mariette the Fourth adapted as Candyette the Fourth was fantastic. I would honestly love to see a full version of either performance! I love Fel and Leona together, but it's nice hearing Leona start to speak up for herself. And now we're off to solve a mystery! Who could have done it, I wonder...

[mvdtu3]

GQuuuuuuX Episode 11, I've been thinking a lot about this one. Overall its an extremely good episode, there's just one big elephant in the room that I'm still not sure what I think about. I love the directions the characters are going this episode, and of course the action was top-notch as always for this show. I am extremely interested to see how things end next week, as there are a lot of ways things can go from this point.

More thoughts in detail below the gap:

So first things first, the big reveal of the OG Gundam at the end of the episode and Shuji's possible identity. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this one yet, it all really depends on how the next and final episode treats this. There's certainly a worrying possibility that this will just turn into 'OH HEY LOOK AT A THING YOU RECOGNIZE' multiverse slop, but there are plenty of ways that this could still turn out to be satisfying and valuable. It all depends on what the actual explanation for the appearance of the RX-78-2 Specifically is, and what Shuji/Possibly Amuro's motivations really are and how they connect to any previous characterization. Its such a small part of this episode that its impossible to really evaluate on its own.

The execution of that moment was wonderful though, the building was really well executed and as much as it is a 'fangirl moment' I couldn't help but feel an excited tension in my chest when Beyond The Time started playing.

Looking at the rest of the episode, it was fantastic, one of the best so far. A big part of that was how Machu and Nyaan both developed throughout this episode. I love how Nyaan has begun to waver in her convictions, and realize her own true feelings and desires. The moments where she openly admits that she really doesn't know why she is doing this, and of course, the wonderfully animated moment where she shoots Kycillia were some of the best Nyaan moments in the whole series, I love what they have done with this character, she's probably the standout character of the entire show for me.

I'm glad that I guessed how part of the GQuuuuuuX's super mode would deploy, with the domes placed around the body raising up to reveal more mechanical detail. I think that the form looks really neat, but there probably going to sell it as an entirely new HG kit with a few extra parts, and there's a good chance it ends up limited to only P-Bandai as well isn't there. I reckon the GFreD is definitely going to power up in the same way next episode.

Not much else to talk about this close to the show's ending, other than reiterating the general quality of the whole production. I'm looking forward to seeing how it all ends, even if there is a bit of a worry about how the new element introduced at the end of this episode will be handled.

[pluckyredhead]

Did I just read your Super Sons primer from 2020 at 3 am on a Monday morning because I'm having a real normal one? Maybe?! I'm wondering how you feel about how they and their relationship has developed since then. IMO it's... Pretty bleak. 😩

I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT IT. (Also here's the primer for anyone who missed it.)

So I will say that 95% of everything Jon has been in since he got aged up has been hot garbage, but I do think the exception is when Damian is around. But let's take it from the top!

First of all, I don't necessarily think they should de-age him again. Generally speaking I think it's better storytelling to focus on fixing things moving forward, rather than undoing things moving back. Sure, if DC came up with some big cosmic event that reset Jon to 11, I certainly wouldn't complain, but I'd rather see them, uh...do literally anything with Teen Jon that doesn't suck.

But yeah, aging Jon up to begin with still makes me livid because:

I want my baby to have had a childhood.

It's fully character assassination for Lois and Clark. They would NEVER let their 11-year-old go to outer space with a supervillain. Lois would NEVER just abandon him out there, and Clark would NEVER respond with "Well, I'm sure he's fine, wanna have marathon sex?" I honestly have no idea what Bendis or his editor were thinking.

They have not done a single interesting with him since!!!

Putting this behind a cut because it got LONG. Also spoilers for Beast World in there.

I've said this before, but I have to assume that Bendis wanted to age Jon up because he wanted to write a Legion book. But he also in his wisdom decided to bring Kon back into continuity at exactly the same time, which means we have two nearly identical Superboys that DC didn't and still doesn't know what to do with. Kon clearly couldn't have joined the LOSH because he already had a team, but you know what Super teen was available, and not 11, and who has a history with the Legion that goes back almost as long as Clark's? KARA. But I will save that rant for another day.

And honestly, Kara dodged a bullet, because that Legion book was unreadable. Bendis at his most Bendis-y wall of text interrupt-y conversations and no plot. If I give Tom Taylor any credit it's that the second he got his hands on Jon, he torpedoed Jon/Imra as a ship. GOOD.

And when the LOSH book finally went out with a whimper (that JLA/LOSH miniseries! what was that!!!), we entered the Taylor Era. Taylor's quirks are less stylistic and more narrative than Bendis's. You can spot Bendisian dialogue at twenty paces, but a Taylor comic tips its hand when it sets up a really interesting premise or a really high stakes threat and then immediately undercuts it with a little wet fart noise of nothing. To wit:

Jon's starting college! This will be an interesting challenge for him to readjust to normal life after six years in a torture-volcano and an indeterminate amount of time in the future, and also considering he never graduated from sixth grade. I wonder what will - oh no he dropped out after three pages. (He has done NOTHING in his civilian identity since, btw. I guess he's too busy hovering just behind Dick at all times to work on his GED or whatever.)

Jon is going to confront Ultraman! Finally the comics will have to engage with all the trauma he must have - oh no Ultraman's dead.

Jon is trapped in the Injustice Universe! This is a really dangerous universe that might make him question everything he knows about - oh he just lectured everyone and flounced off home.

Beast World is a perfect example. Taylor seems to think that having a hero effortlessly solve a problem makes them look badass, but it's actually the effort that makes them look badass. So like, we spent five months keeping the Kryptonians and other A-class heroes away from the spores because the spores are attracted to power and if a Super got spore'd everyone would be in big trouble...but then in the last issue, they just have Jon fly up to everyone with a spore in them, wait for the spore to jump at him, and catch it? That doesn't make the Titans look smart or Jon look tough. It makes all of them look like idiots because it it was that easy, why didn't they do that in the first place?

On top of that, Taylor doesn't ever really earn relationships. Jon and Jay is the obvious one. Jay has no personality. There's no chemistry between the two characters. Jon might as well be dating a cardboard cutout labeled "Proof of Queerness." (Or "Bernard." Ahem.) But we're supposed to be like, yes, give Tom Taylor a GLAAD award for using queer characters as props, when he's going to turn around and kiss Chuck Dixon's ass on social for being homophobic about Jon? UGH.

Honestly worse for me though is the Jon and Dick relationship. Because Taylor is writing both characters, we're supposed to believe that there's this close mentor-mentee bond there? I don't think they EVER interacted before the Taylor era. (And don't even look at me with that retconned-in scene of Dick finding lost baby Jon. You're telling me that Superman, with his X-ray and telescopic vision, needs to call Bruce and Dick for help finding his own son? Fuck off.)

Anyway it all combines to make basically every Jon appearance for the past three years profoundly unsatisfying. Even the stuff that isn't by Taylor never goes anywhere. Remember when he was jealous of the Super Twins for two panels? And then everyone forgot about it forever? SIGH.

HOWEVER.

However.

If there is one thing that Bendis and Taylor and every other writer got right, it's that Jon is crazy bonkers in love with Damian always and forever. Jon has been written like shit since 2019, but he has also not wavered in his devotion for even one single solitary second.

THE EVIDENCE:

This is the first thing Jon does when he gets back to Earth:

He then tells Damian he's contemplating not joining the Legion because he'll have to leave Damian behind. Damian tells him to go and then come get him if it's cool.

Turns out the Legion is cool. Jon comes and gets Damian. The Legion isn't happy about it and Jon threatens to leave if Damian can't stay, while gazing adoringly at Damian's unconscious body cradled in his arms:

Eventually LOSH is canceled and Jon comes home and starts following Damian around by listening for his heartbeat. LIKE PALS DO!

Then Damian gives him a pep talk!

Then there's this ABSOLUTE CUDDLE:

The way Damian nuzzles into Jon's shoulder! Can you even stand it!

And then there's this:

The climax of Son of Kal-El, btw, is one of the several times Jon is saved by Damian and confides in Damian and turns to Damian for comfort or advice...and Jay is just sort of standing there off to the side. I am fully aware I have ship goggles on but the degree of emotional investment Jon has in these relationships is not the same.

Then they had a special issue teamup:

Then we got Dark Crisis, and I actually love this interaction between them, because they are very different people with very different upbringings and this feels extremely in character to me for how they would both handle the loss of their fathers:

But even when they disagree, they still instantly support each other. Jon comes back with information? Damian makes a plan:

Also, we got the 2022 Pride issue where Jon, Jay, and Damian go to Pride together. I know that story is...contentious...but leave me here with Damian sulking while Jon and Jay kiss, okay?

Then we get Adventures of Superman, which is objectively awful, but Jon does spend his whole time in the Injustice universe thinking about Damian like the seagulls in Finding Nemo saying "Mine? Mine? Mine?"

This whole arc is truly hilarious. Jon finds out that Damian accidentally killed Dick and his response is to a) go find Batman and yell at him for not supporting Damian enough for accidentally killing Dick, and then b) go find Damian to be like "Wow, that must have been really hard for you (accidentally killing Dick)." There's being ride or die for your BFF, and then there's whatever the fuck Jon has going on.

(Meanwhile there's an incredibly uncomfortable scene with him and Injustice Jay where Jay "tests" him by trying to get Jon to cheat on regular Jay. So. That happens.)

And then just this past month we got Nightwing #110, where we learn that Jon is still listening to Damian's heart:

He completely freaks out watching Damian in danger, and immediately intervenes when it looks like Damian is about to kill someone because he knows what matters the most to Damian. Also, this happens:

YOU WIN THIS ONE, TAYLOR.

AND THEN THEY BICKER I LOVE IT WHEN THEY BICKER:

AND THEN DAMIAN LETS HIMSELF BE VULNERABLE BY ASKING JON IF HE HURT ANYONE WHILE HE WAS A KITTY, AND JON GIVES YET ANOTHER SPEECH ABOUT HOW DAMIAN HAS NEVER DONE ANYTHING WRONG EVER, IN HIS LIFE, AND DAMIAN STAGGERS OFF, LEANING ON JON.

This isn't even getting into the Trinity backup stories in Wonder Woman, which, like...Tom King is not valid but Jon and Damian are such an old married couple in them? It's truly incredible?

It took me like 45 minutes to parse Jon's line here as the general 'you" and not specifically Jon saying Damian wasn't straight. But like..."That's for straight people, which has nothing to do with us" is a hell of a thing to say, Jonathan.

I ALSO haven't even talked about DCeased because it's a different universe, but! Jon sitting with Damian while he dies??? MY HEART.

IN CONCLUSION:

Yes, they should never have aged up Jon.

Yes, most of his appearances since have been terrible and bland.

But OH BOY, do he and Damian remain in love.

[thatfoxnamedfinley]

LO, REAPER aka Red Rising thoughts

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT

Lettsss GOoooOOooOOoO

I like how ruthless Darrow is. I was reading a review about the book and one person was like "the MC is too intense and cruel. I can't continue to read the series." Meanwhile I'm sitting here like

Tommy Shelby from Peaky Blinders and Captain Flint from Black Sails are two of my favorite characters ever; if you know then you know. I won't say I like cruelty in characters, but I find the capacity for cruelty to be fascinating in characters we are supposed to be rooting for. Darrow grows to care for some of these people and I actually think he cares for less people than readers think at this point. He knows that to be an effective leader you must be feared AND loved and he almost seems to FAKE his care for most of them. It doesn't stop him from taking steps on his mission. The fact that (DON'T CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG) I believe Darrow will not only be a Peerless Scarred, but an Iron Gold by the end of this story is exciting. He's a great MC. I also like moody, broody characters so LMAO he fits the bill.

Sevro is a baby boi. A feral baby boi, but a baby boi. The fact that he's like this little wild child that runs around in a smelly wolf pelt stabbing people's eyes out and follows Darrow so loyally is endearing. I want to know more about where he comes from.

Especially at the end when Darrow had Sevro cut together the footage of the invasion at the Institute and when he heard Darrow say "bloody damn" Sevro was whistling like "its so crazy, the wind was just so LOUD and it was just HARD to make out your words so I just....DELETED them. 😇" I'm like you CHEEKY LITTLE BOI! He knows exactly what's going on and has respect and love for Darrow despite it. Without him and his Howlers, many of Darrow's plans wouldn't have been able to happen.

I don't like Cassius. Never did. I understand his plight and I'm empathetic in a way because his brother was killed. He sees Darrow as manipulative because they were close so he feels...betrayed I guess? However...didn't he also kill someone in The Passage? And joked about it? So...

I think he's an INTERESTING character, I won't lie. I look forward to his arc, but at the moment I don't like him. Wait til he finds out Darrow is a RED kekekekekekekekkekekeke

Jackal is crazy, don't know too much about him though besides his lineage. I knew he would cut off his own hand, there was no way he WASN'T with the hints here and there throughout the story. I do know this boi is going to be a problem tho.

Roque is interesting, still don't know much about him. I was happy he wasn't dead though. He seems to be valuable on the intelligence front so I wonder if he will come into play when doing tactical planning in the future. I'm on the fence with Tactus because I thought he was going to have to be killed like Titus (I also GASPED when we found out). Even after the whipping incident, I'm wary about him because I could see him being

A.) Loyal as fuck

B.) Betraying snake

So, we'll see. I kiiiiinda like him, but I'm also fully prepared to be disappointed by him XD

Mustang... O, Mustang. I don't think she's been developed super well but I like her only because I was like Darrow and thought once we found out her lineage that she had betrayed them all. When we found out she was the Jackal's twin sister I literally smacked my forehead and was like

But she pulled up with him bound up and I was so shocked that she got a +2 with me from that alone. I look forward to her character development.

Lots of people say this book is one of the weakest which is good news I suppose. At first I wasn't fully on board how great Darrow was at everything but ya know...? I remember feeling the heat of rage before about something much less important as Darrow's loss and I was like ya know what, ok. I get it. I can suspend some disbelief here that maybe his rage (which is something I like, that he has anger issues) CAN fuel him further than others. My man shanked Apollo in the eye while they were grappling mid air. I mean DAMN bro.

I have high expectations and Book 1 was good.

On to Book 2!!

Side note: I wanted him to go be with Lorn au Arcos at the endddddddddd not Nero. EWWWwwwWWwww

Side, side note: I want to see an Iron Rain SOOOO BADDDDDD

Side, side, side note: I have a bad feeling about Karnus, Jackal and Cassius. I really do.

[gongziyus]

i was looking forward to the first fr.st so much but it's so bad 😭😭😭 my sister's tired of listening to me complain about it, so i have to post my 95 theses here:

instead of being a filmic adaptation of a webtoon, it's literally just a webtoon in film format--meaning that the same editing, pacing, framing, etc. that you'd see in a webtoon (a 2 dimensional format), we're getting in a tv show, so everything feels flat.

the specific aesthetics the show prioritizes makes it...loser-ish. for example, the scene where they're in school running on the track--every other girl has her hair in a ponytail but lead girl has her hair loose. huh? who goes running during gym class and doesn't tie up their hair? her, because the show is more focused on her illustrating certain elements of femininity or "womanhood" (long hair, rape-able, easily bullied, small) than on representing even a modicum of realism. another example: when she's practicing ballet back in high school. first of all, ballet dancers would practice in a group, with an instructor. she would have friends who also do ballet. ballet is not a lone sport, hello??? 😭😭😭😭 second of all (and this goes back to the editing), one cut shows her en point in pointe ballet shoes, and then it cuts to her still dancing, but 😭😭😭 in SOFT TOED 😭😭😭 ballet shoes--cause the actress isn't a ballet dancer. like 😭😭😭 why would you do that to her.

speaking of! the show does something i deeply hate, which is cast someone very thin and with no apparent athleticism to play a person interested in something that requires you to have a body type that doesn't simply prioritize thinness--ballet dancers are jacked! they have to hold their entire bodies up on their toes for whole performances, they have to dance and leap and twirl and all kinds of shit. they're athletic!

bjt needs to play a character with a real job. in you are my hero he was a super cop; in new life begins he was a gvt official-prince; in reset he was a game developer. here he co-owns a gastro pub, so he does nothing all day and has nothing to say or think about. he just stares at lead girl all day (which i actually like, cause i'm a sap) and acts like a child.

why is every other man trying to rape her. like what is the reason. (we know the reason. she's a woman, which means she's rape-able.)

similarly, why is every other woman bullying her. like what is the reason. the whole point of becoming an adult is that you can somewhat choose who to have in your life and how to treat people who don't treat you the way you want them to. the whole point of being an adult is...YOU CAN LEAVE. she's an adult but she has none of the perks/joys/freedoms of being one. it's like the story just took the constraints of high school and transferred them to an adult life like 😭😭😭 that's not how it works, high school is literally just high school. (this is like that post that talks about how you can tell when fanfiction is written by adults cause they know how much everything costs.)

it's just an idol drama 😭😭😭😭😭 for some reason i categorized it in my head as being a legit good drama as opposed to just something with bjt in it 😭😭😭